The joy of victory at Iron Shield Fortress had not yet faded, but the uneasy premonition in Allen's heart grew clearer. He did not make a fuss, but quietly strengthened his monitoring of external spacetime fluctuations, especially his perception of subtle changes in the timeline.
Three days later, at dusk, the warning suddenly arrived.
It wasn't an overwhelming army, nor an energy surge. The setting sun above the fortress seemed to freeze for a moment, the dust in the air stopped moving, and the sound of waves crashing on the shore in the distance eerily disappeared. An absolute, mentally sluggish "sense of stillness" enveloped the vast area centered on the Iron Shield Fortress like an invisible domain!
"What's going on?! I feel... I can't move!" A coalition soldier exclaimed in horror as he discovered that his movements were now in slow motion.
"It's a time-manipulation ability! But not like Allen's!" Nami immediately sensed the anomaly. This stillness carried a cold, unquestionable sense of "order," completely different from Allen's warm and vibrant spacetime power.
Allen's pupils constricted—they've arrived! The hunters have come for his Time Authority!
Against the backdrop of the frozen sunset, three pale, luminous figures silently emerged. They were humanoid in form, but their bodies were composed of countless slowly rotating transparent gears and flowing hourglass-shaped halos of light. Their faces had no features, only a single, constantly flashing eye like the hand of a clock. They held not weapons, but strange artifacts resembling " Temporal Probe " and " Causality Shears."
[Subordinate of the Temporal Overseer - Stasis Unit... Target ' Torch Dragon ' confirmed... Execute 'Archiving Protocol'...]
A chilling thought echoed directly in Allen's mind.
The next moment, one of the Stasis Unit raised its " Temporal Probe " and aimed it at Allen. A pale beam of light shot out, not as an energy attack, but to directly affect Allen's connection with the surrounding time flow!
Allen immediately felt his connection with the laws of time become obscure and sluggish! He tried to activate Time Acceleration, but the effect was negligible! He tried to perceive future branches, but everything before his eyes was a blur!
"They can interfere with my control over time!" Allen immediately realized how terrifying these enemies were. They existed specifically to counter time-manipulation abilities!
" Gum-Gum-- " Luffy attempted to attack, but his movements were pitifully slow within the Stasis Domain.
Zoro's slashes and Sanji's kicks were like being stuck in a quagmire.
Ace's flamethrower speed was greatly reduced.
Everyone's actions were significantly delayed!
Only Allen, with his Transcendence understanding of spacetime and his profound knowledge of "existence," can maintain a relatively normal speed of action and thought in the Stasis Domain, but the time authority he relies on most is severely suppressed!
The other two Stasis Unit seized the opportunity to approach, their " Causality Shears " flashing with a dangerous light, seemingly capable of severing the connection between the target and certain "causes" or "possibilities"!
In that moment of crisis, a fierce glint flashed in Allen's eyes!
"The power of time is not my only weapon!"
He abandoned his attempt to forcibly manipulate the Power of Time and instead focused his attention on the authority of space and the power of light and darkness!
"Spatial Imprisonment - Severed Realm Severance Cage!"
He slammed his hands together, unleashing a powerful burst of spatial energy. It wasn't an attack, but rather an instantaneous creation of multiple overlapping spatial Severed Realm around the three Stasis Unit! These Severed Realm, like invisible cages, forcibly severed some of their energy connections with the external Stasis Domain, temporarily confining them within a certain range!
The intensity of the Stasis Domain has clearly decreased slightly!
"Now!" Allen hissed.
"Light and Darkness Intertwined - Primordial Impact!"
The left eye blazed with the Light of Creation, while the right eye drew in the Darkness of the Return to the Ruins. The two forces no longer merged, but instead intertwined and exploded forth like a spiral! The purification of light and the devouring of darkness acted simultaneously on the spatial cage, causing a violent impact on the Stasis Unit inside, which were composed of precise temporal laws! The gears on their surfaces emitted a piercing grinding sound, and their light flickered erratically!
" Wormhole Transfer!"
Taking advantage of the interference from the forces of light and darkness, Allen precisely opened miniature unstable Wormhole beneath each Stasis Unit! The other end of the Wormhole connected to a height of hundreds of meters in the air!
Caught off guard, the three Stasis Unit instantly fell into the Wormhole, appearing high in the sky, and were removed from the core area of Stasis Domain they had created!
The domain's suppressive power has been greatly reduced once again!
"Do it!" Allen roared.
The group, who had been holding back their anger, instantly regained most of their speed!
" Gum-Gum - King Kong Murder of Crows Cannon!"
" Three-Sword Style - One Great Thousand Great Thousand Worlds!"
" Purifying Flame Diable Jambe - Supreme Grade Meat Grinder!"
" Flame Emperor - Pure Lotus Flower!"
The ferocious attacks rained down on the Stasis Unit that had lost their advantageous position in the air and whose temporal stability had been temporarily disrupted by the power of light and darkness!
These Stasis Unit are immune to conventional time interference, but their physical defenses are not invincible! Under the concentrated fire of the Straw Hat Pirates's top combatants, their gear-like bodies began to crack, and their pale light rapidly dimmed!
**[... Encountering... unexpected... Resistance the spatial and light-dark authority... database update... threat assessment upgraded again...]
[... requesting... to leave...]
They attempted to re-coagulate the Stasis Domain or activate some kind of escape mechanism, but would Allen give them the chance?
"Space obliterates, Kingdom Returns to the Void!"
His eyes were icy as he targeted the most severely damaged Stasis Unit. A tiny space bubble, the size of a grain of rice, suddenly appeared in his palm, forcibly sucking in a portion of its body, and then... detonated!
A silent annihilation occurred, and that portion of the gears and light Void completely! The remaining Stasis Unit system seemed to be subjected to a chain reaction of destruction, its operation completely out of control!
Finally, the moment the three Stasis Unit were completely destroyed, the Stasis Domain that had enveloped the battlefield also completely dissipated.
The sunset returned to normal, and the sound of the waves returned to my ears.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but their expressions were grim. These new enemies were strange and powerful, specifically targeting Allen's core abilities.
" The Temporal Overseer..." Allen murmured the name he had gleaned from the other's mind, feeling an unprecedented pressure. Unlike the pure power confrontation with the Abyss Will, this new enemy was more inclined towards restraint and hunting at the level of rules.
His journey through time and space is destined to be filled with challenges from all sides. And the recently concluded battle of time is just the beginning. He must grow faster and understand all the powers more deeply in order to cope with the more complex situations to come.